Blog | How to convert online leads into paying customers

B2B focus primarily on generating leads. Whether it is through events, seminars, or online – generating leads is one of the most important ways to grow business. But all your efforts will not add up to anything if your sales team does not follow up with them.

Dr. James Oldroyd conducted a study in 2011 called, “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads”. In this study, he found that most companies do not follow up leads fast enough. Also, the study found that from 2,240 companies, only 46 percent followed up a lead within 24 hours. In a separate report, MIT found that website leads go cold in 90 minutes.

So, what can you do? Here are a few tips that will help you converting website leads into paying customers.

Don’t make them wait
Fresh leads cannot wait until the next day. A prospect’s interest levels drop drastically after one hour, and he/she might have moved on to your competitors. This makes it very important to set up internal routines for handling incoming leads.

If emails are directed to a personal mailbox, they can be missed because of overload. But, you can direct your online leads to a company email id that will be accessible to many people. This way, leads can be handled quickly or you can use customer care software.
Create structures in sales teams
Many companies divide their sales team into two factions – one that handles existing customers and the other to take care of new business. This is just an example. The structuring is not so important as the processes you create that let the team to move quickly. This, in fact, applies to all stages of the sales process.

Keep your leads warm
If you call a prospective customer within 10 minutes of completing an online form, they might not be willing to move forward in the sales process. But, remember that they have shown an interest in your product. So, keep them warm on the phone. Ask them if they would to be added to your mailing list, and the like. This will help you clear the path for the future.

Customer care starts a lot before you actually sell the product. If you keep them in the loop and show them you care, they will surely come back to you when they want to move ahead.

Track your sales pipeline
You can track your sales pipeline to gain an overview of the prospects with whom you are working. With the help of a CRM system, you will be able to see the stage of the sales process in which the prospects are and the activities that have been done. This can be one by each sales person and by the sales manager to get a complete overview.

Dashboards help you in visualising your sales data with charts, and you can see if they fit your needs. You can go through various sales cases in your weekly meeting and see the stage in which they are and get a progress report of their status. A regularly updated pipeline will help you see the cases you need to focus on.